By Huey Freeman
Herald & Review
SPRINGFIELD —Steven L. Carson, 47, of Hillsboro was sentenced Wednesday to serve 43 years and four months in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to charges of sexual exploitation of a minor and distributing and possessing images of child pornography.
Carson, a former prison guard who was employed at Graham Correctional Center at the time of the crimes, has been in federal custody without bond since his arrest one year ago.
His arrest was the result of an investigation by the FBI’s Cyber Crime Unit, Sacramento, Calif., which engaged in a file-sharing session with Carson in April 2012.
Carson, who was indicted by a grand jury on Feb. 21, admitted that he videotaped a child in 2001, whom he directed to perform sexually explicit acts.
He also admitted that he engaged in peer-to-peer file sharing of child pornography, including prepubescent boys, and that he possessed child pornography. More than 2,300 images and 40 videos were found on Carson’s computers by the FBI.
Carson’s sentence was decided by U.S. District Judge Richard Mills. According to sentencing guidelines, he was eligible to serve up to 50 years. The prosecutor was Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Harris.
With his prison sentence to be served at 85 percent, Carson will be eligible to be released in 2048. He will then be subject to supervised release for life.
This child pornography case was a product of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse, initiated by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2006. The project deploys federal, state and local resources to identify, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet. The joint law enforcement effort also identifies and rescues victims.